As the Third International Conference on Financing for Development begins in Ethiopia, Áine Markham of Médecins Sans Frontières warns that basing funding decisions on country-level finance indicators could be a step backwards for global health, especially in middle-income countries.

Dr. Simon Bryant is a Canadian physician who will serve as one of two doctors on board the MY Phoenix, a search-and-rescue boat that Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) will launch this month in response to the growing humanitarian crisis involving migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea. Dr. Bryant talked recently about how the Phoenix will find ships in distress, what care his team will provide to those who are in need, and why nobody deserves to drown at sea.

In this op-ed, originally published in Le Monde, MSF-France president Dr. Mego Terzian and MSF project coordinator Dr. Jean-Hervé Bradol argue that diplomatic efforts must ensure that emergency medical assistance is provided to the Syrian people.